


A Breath of Fresh Air

by ReplacementRobin



Series: JayTim Week 2020 [4]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, JayTim Week, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, Scarecrow's Fear Toxin (DCU), Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:40:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24539383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReplacementRobin/pseuds/ReplacementRobin
Summary: “It’s okay Jay, everythings fine. Whatever you’re seeing isn’t real,” Jason’s eyes are darting around rapidly, terror clear on his face, and Tim considers how mad Bruce would be if he broke the no killing rule for whatever Scarecrow has done to Jason.OrJason gets dosed with fear gas. Tim takes care of him. Snuggling ensues.
Relationships: Tim Drake/Jason Todd
Series: JayTim Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767865
Comments: 11
Kudos: 250
Collections: JayTimWeek





	A Breath of Fresh Air

Tim is making soft, hopefully comforting sounds while his hands cup Jason’s cheeks. They look pale against the older man’s darker skin.They’re kneeling out of sight in the cover provided by two rooftop AC units. The gravel on the ground is digging into his knees through the armor of his suit just enough to be noticeable, it’s probably worse for Jason who’d been here for several moments before Tim could get to him after seeing him get hit.

“It’s okay Jay, everythings fine. Whatever you’re seeing isn’t real,” Jason’s eyes are darting around rapidly, terror clear on his face, and Tim considers how mad Bruce would be if he broke the no killing rule for whatever Scarecrow has done to Jason.

Tim is feeling the effects of the fear gas too. A low grade and persistent anxiety buzzing in the background. But between his years in Gotham unintentionally building up a partial immunity and the fact that he didn’t get a dose of it sprayed directly into his exposed face, he’s coping a lot better than Jason, who’d been gone for a good portion of Scarecrow’s most active years and had the filters of his mask damaged at the beginning of the fight, forcing him to remove it.

He let’s go of Jason’s face with one hand to tap his ear piece, activating it, “Hood is compromised. I need to get him out of here,” He says knowing the rest of the bats are listening from where they’re fighting the other henchmen that are trying to wreak havoc in the streets.

Bruce’s rough ‘Batman voice’ comes through the channel a moment later, “Acknowledged. Get him somewhere safe, Red Robin. We have this handled.”

He feels a pang of anxiety at the implication that he’s not needed, but squashes it down viciously, it’s just the fear gas talking. He redirects his energy to getting Jason somewhere safe where the antidote he’d administered can kick in and let him sleep this off. He doesn’t envy the headache he knows a dose like that will leave him with.

He refocuses on Jason lowering his voice, “Jay,” Jason’s eyes jerk to look at him wide and glassy as though he’s looking at something that isn’t quite Tim, “I need you to come with me, we need to get somewhere safe.” It takes a moment, but eventually he gives Tim a jerky nod and doesn’t resist when Tim stands, gently helping Jason up. 

“Can you follow me?” Tim asks, and if Jason wasn’t so out of it he’d probably be telling to Tim to fuck off for his placating tone. But now he just gives a nod, mind too consumed with whatever images the gas in concocting to maintain his usual level of snark.

Tim leads them to one of Jason’s preferred safehouses, he’ll probably feel a lot safer in familiar territory. As he’s swinging he can’t help but wonder what Jason may be seeing. All of them have witnessed horrifying things, it comes with the job, so the gas has plenty of material to work with as it tries to cripple them with fear. Jason though, he’s endured a kind of pain that even vigilantes are usually lucky enough to not experience, and if they do, they rarely come back from it. 

They get there quickly enough, the trip feeling shorter from the way he’s lost in his head. By the time they land on the rusty fire escape and crawl through the window Jason is almost trembling, muscles jerking as the chemicals work their way through his system. 

He stands in the lounge space that the window leads into, gripping the frame hard enough Tim is almost worried it might splinter. He’s staring into the distance, watching whatever horrors the drugs flowing through his veins can come up with. Tim had administered the antidote the moment he’d been close enough, but it looks like this might be a new strain, making it less effective.

Tim’s been here a few times before, from crashing on the couch after a long joint patrol to scarfing down pizza and watching bad spanish telenovela reruns on Jason’s TV. But he’s never been to Jason’s bedroom, so as he walks Jason into it to get him out of his suit and into something more comfortable he looks around, taking in the room.

It’s startlingly neat, nothing like Tim’s own disaster of a bedroom, white bedding pulled taught over his bed with a precision and neatness Alfred would appreciate, laundry in the hamper and not scattered across the floor. The only thing that looks out of place is an old tattered book on the equally old looking - rustic, is what design magazines would call it, selling it to you for hundreds when Jason probably picked this up for free in one of the many alleys filled with abandoned furniture - wooden nightstand.

Tim clears his throat and turns to Jason when he realizes he’s been staring, “You should get into something warm and try to get some sleep,” Jason mutters out an agreeing noise moving towards his closet.

It’s not like Tim hasn’t seen Jason naked before, they’ve been in enough locker rooms and decontamination showers to avoid that. But he’s not so masochistic that he’s going to stick around to watch the guy he likes get undressed. 

However as he turns to leave Jason grabs his wrist, grip firm but not bruising. Tim could break out of it easily if he wanted to, but the vulnerable look on Jason’s face has Tim pausing, waiting for an explanation. Jason looks conflicted, like the words are hard for him to say, despite how desperately he needs to “Stay.” 

Jason doesn’t let go of his wrist and Tim gazes at him silently, eyes wide and questioning. At his lack of response Jason’s starts to look embarrassed and defensive, grip loosening as he begins to let go, starting to mumble a nevermind when Tim interrupts.

“Okay. I’ll stay,” they stare at each other for another long moment before he lets go of his wrist, looking relieved.

Jason reaches back into his closet and tosses him a shirt. When they both change, Jason into a soft shirt and Wonder Woman flannel pants, and Tim in a pair of boxers and a soft oversized shirt that smells of fabric softener and Jason. The shirt probably isn’t oversized on Jason he thinks absently, then forcibly stops that train of thought.

Jason climbs into bed and slips under the covers. Tim turns the light off and joins him. It’s a double so there should be space between them, but the moment Tim settles down Jason latches onto him in an octopus hug Dick Grayson would be proud of. Tim lets out an embarrassing squeak of alarm, but settles into the embrace a few moments later, knowing that Jason needs this right now, even if he’s probably going to be embarrassed in the morning.

Tim can feel the minute trembles and quickened breath, Jason’s coping, but the fear toxin isn’t fully gone yet. He settles into the older man’s chest and makes sure his own breathing is even, listening as Jason paces his own to match, just like they were taught. Eventually he feels the grip loosen as Jason drifts off, but instead of wiggling out and slipping away, he lets himself follow him into unconsciousness.

___

Jason wakes up slowly, his head is pounding like he’d gotten into a fight with a bottle of tequila and lost, but there’s a hand running through his hair which makes everything better. His brain wakes up a bit more and he immediately tenses up, _who the hell is in his bed_. Then like a mist finally dissipating with the help of the adrenaline spike he remembers the events of last night, feeling his cheeks flush red at the memories. God, he’d asked Tim to stay with him and then clung to him like a limpet - or Dick - and now he’s somehow ended with his head resting on the guy's chest. 

Tim definitely knows he’s already awake despite the fact that he hasn’t moved. He has to bite the metaphorical bullet sometime, so he opens his eyes and looks up at the other man. Tim is watching him with wide blue eyes, a look Jason can only describe as fond on his face.

“Morning, how are you feeling?” The younger man asks softly, Jason’s headache appreciates that. The blackout curtains - a requirement when you work and live the hours that they do - must not have been closed properly, because a line of bright light cuts through the room providing enough light for them to see each other, but not enough that it stabs into Jason’s throbbing headache

“Like I tried to drink Bruce's entire liquor cabinet,” he says, voice rough with sleep.

  
  
Tim snorts softly at the reply, “Fear gas leaves one hell of a hangover. If you let me up, I’ll make you some coffee to help. I’d offer breakfast, but I don’t want to burn your safehouse down.”

  
  
Jason realizes that he’s still snuggled up to Tim and with speed that the Flash family would envy he moves off of him, the sudden jerk sending his already woozy head spinning. 

Tim slips out of bed and Jason watches him go, a mix of embarrassment and contentment filling his chest. 

___

Jason hears the sound of the bathroom door opening and closing and then a few moments later the sound of his kettle turning on, so he drags himself out of bed and goes to brush his teeth. He looks up into the mirror and green eyes stare back at him.

He can hear muffled screams all around him, and the world is tinted a familiar green. His hands are warm and sticky, and when he looks down they’re coated in blood. Still fresh. He knows automatically that its Tim's blood. He’s done what he’d set out to do all those years ago, kill his replacement. But he wasn’t his replacement, he was Tim. 

Tim who he watched movies with when they were both exhausted after patrol but too wired to sleep. Tim who had atrocious taste in pizza toppings and drank way too much grape zesti. Tim who had somehow wormed himself into Jason's life and had Jason bringing down the walls he’d built so high because Jason couldn’t help wanting to let him in. Tim who Jason had found himself falling for slowly and then all at once. No. 

He shook his head as if that could dispel the memories. Hallucination, not memories. Tim was alive and in his kitchen making coffee. He could hear the machine turning on and the clinking of mugs being taken out. He takes a deep breath and walks out the bathroom.

___

  
When he leaves the bathroom and follows Tim into the kitchen he finds the younger man sitting on one of his rickety stools, his own mug of coffee already in hand while Jason’s waits on the counter, steam rising from the mug it’s in. It has a small chip in the handle where Roy had nicked it with an arrow trying to do trickshots on the buildings roof, Jason loves his friends, but they can be idiots.  
  


Jason pads over and picks up the cup taking a sip, it’s just cool enough to not burn his tongue, but still hot enough that he knows it’s fresh.

Jason looks up from his drink to look at Tim. He’s wearing the shirt Jason had given him last night. It’s too big for him, hanging skew and exposing one pale sharp collar bone. He still has bed head, tufts of ebony hair sticking up and making him look sleep rumpled and adorable. 

Tim looks like he’s gearing up to say he should go, and even though the fear gas has worked its way out his system - leaving him the parting gift of a pounding headache - and he’s free of its effects, the thought of Tim leaving his apartment, his sight, his protection, makes him feel jittery as hell.

“I should-” He starts, but is interrupted by Jason.

  
  
“Stay!” He clears his throat, “You could stay, I’ll uh put on a movie. We can just,” he pauses awkwardly, “Hang out?” it ends up sounding like a question, and he sounds as confused as Tim looks.

  
  
The confusion is replaced by a thoughtful expression as he searches, and whatever Tim finds in Jason’s face has him answering a moment later, “Okay, I’ll stay.”

  
  
They finish their coffee in silence, savouring the warmth in the chilled air of a gotham autumn. When both their mugs are empty, they walk the five steps to Jason’s lounge area, Tim settling on the couch as Jason sets up the movie. There’s a fluffy red blanket hung over the back, not quite big enough to stretch across the length of the couch, so Tim sits closer to the middle so Jason can use it too. 

Tim watches him switch on the television and choose a movie, huffing a laugh when he sees it’s ‘The Princess Bride.’ Jason looks back at him, his expression both amused and challenging, “Problem?”

“No, it’s just not what I expected,” Tim says, lips curving up into a fond smile.

“Gotta appreciate the classics Tim,” He replies, smiling back.

Jason turns it on then comes back to the couch, sliding under the blanket. They’re close, but not quite touching. As the movie goes on that changes. First it’s simply their shoulders brushing, then it’s the length of their thighs pressed against each other, and finally Tim is leaning his head against him and Jason's got his arm around Tim's shoulders. They don’t speak, the only sounds are soft laughs when funny bit’s come up. At one point Tim catches Jason silently mouthing along to the dialogue out of the corner of his eye, he can’t help the wave of affection he feels and the small smile on his lips that stays even as he turns back to the screen. 

When the credits start rolling the silence is broken as Jason clears his throat like he’s preparing to speak and Tim turns his head to look up at him. There’s a light behind him that makes his silhouette glow, Tim thinks it looks very symbolic.

  
  
“Thank you,” Tim looks at Jason confused, “For staying, I know you probably had important things to do,” He clarifies.

“I want to do you,” Tim says, then immediately blushes at what he just implied, regardless of if it’s true, “I mean, you're important too, and I like hanging out with you anyway.”

“Oh,” now Jason’s blushing too, a faint dusting of red across his cheeks, “Thank you anyway, and I uh, like hanging out with you too.”

And then they’re both smiling at each other looking embarrassed but happy. Tim eventually breaks the silence, “Do you want to watch another movie?” 

Jason nods, happy to spend more time with Tim. He gets up reluctantly to quickly put something else on and return to the warmth of the blanket. They slip right back into the position they were in before, Tim against Jason’s side, his arm around his shoulders. And there they stay, letting the world and it’s problems go for a moment, content to simply be in each other’s presence. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Day 4, Free Day! So I ended up writing some angst which turned into fluff... I hope you guys enjoyed it! 
> 
> Thank you to TatsuChan for helping to edit this!! 
> 
> Now I just have to go write and edit the fic that is _due for tomorrow._
> 
> Any Kudos and comments you leave are deeply appreciated <3


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